I Do
by MerylPoppins
Summary: Emma and Sean haven't seen each other in almost 10 years, will tensions rise when they're reunited for Manny's wedding? Will Manny even follow through with the wedding when a mysterious figure from her past arrives? Semma and Janny. Rated T for language and suggestive content. Please rate and review/follow and favourite my lovelies :) Kisses for all (mwah mwah)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hi friends! Just wanted to thank you all for reading this story :) This is my second published fic and I would really appreciated if you would rate and review as well as favourite and follow! I'm planning on making this fic at least 6 chapters so stay tuned! Any constructive criticism, questions, suggestions or compliments are more than welcome in the reviews. Rated M for coarse language and semi-sexual content later. Enjoy!**

 _911 emergency! u gotta get to my place - Manny_

-O-O-O-

"Fuck Manny! It's 1 AM! 911 is for emergencies only" Emma sighs, finally making it to Manny's shoebox apartment in Downtown Toronto, all she could afford on a struggling actor's salary. "I thought you got attacked by a rabid beaver or something!"

"I'M GETTING MARRIED BITCH!" Manny shrieks in response. "Come on Em! We've been waiting for this for 9 years!"

"Oh yes WE have, such a strong relationship we have. You, me and Spinner's dick! All in this together right?" Emma replies snarkily. She loved Manny dearly but dear god that girl acts like her life was a teen drama or something like that. Sometimes I swear she goes out and creates conflict just to entertain some tiny audience in her head. For example, Manny was just drawn to Spinner after it was revealed that he had ball cancer, she always did have a thing for Grey's Anatomy. Now 9 years of midnight phone calls to Emma (usually beginning with "WHY IS HE SUCH A DICK!?" and sobbing) and late night booty calls later he finally popped the question.

"Oh stop your whining Em and take a look at this rock!" Manny says, posing with a gorgeous princess cut 2 carat diamond surrounded by shining white gold embedded with tiny sapphires, sparkling in the fluorescent light of a cheap lamp from IKEA.

"Wow, I'm impressed! Who knew Spinner had such great taste?" Emma ponders, bringing her hand closer to thoroughly examine the massive ring on her finger.

"I may have happened to leave a few pictures lying around the house, you know one on the toilet seat, a few in his cereal box" Manny admitted.

"You're too good Ms. Santos, now where is the blushing groom?" Emma asks, letting go of Manny's hand and turning her head to look for Spinner.

"Telling the boys, finding his best man and all that jazz" Manny says with jazz hands, the ring still glimmering. "They should be back soon, Spin just bought like 6 cases of beer so they'll be here eventually."

"Hey speaking of best man, is there anything you want to ask me?" Emma hints (not so subtly). Manny started to giggle,

"Chill Em! I already asked you to be my Maid of Honour in like the third grade!" A smile spreads across Emma's face as she pulled her into a tight embrace, jumping and squealing like two teenagers. Before we can say anything else the lock clicks and the front door is being slammed open.

"Ladies, may I present not only the handsomest wedding party you've ever seen but the 3 finest friends a guy can have!" Spinner's voice echoes through the cramped space, it's obvious he's had at least a few drinks. He stumbles through the door to reveal a gaggle of equally hammered men. Emma gulped, she never thought she'd see that face again, the face she loves so- no the face she loved. She'd actually learned something after all these years, like guys like him can't be trusted and girls like her just can't stay away.

"Emma?" he almost whispers, the shock clearly evident in his shaking voice. There isn't enough booze in the world to make this situation any less nerve racking.

"Hi Sean."

-O-O-O-

"Actually, on the other hand Spin I think I might have to come over another night, I've got a real bad headache suddenly" Sean mumbles turning back towards the door.

"C'mon Cameron don't be such a pussy" says Jay, stepping out from behind his place pushing Jimmy's wheelchair. "Damn Greenpeace, you just keep getting hotter and hotter, you up for some drinking tonight!" Sean scoffs under his breath and starts rubbing his hands together, an alternative to running his hands through his hair, a rather difficult task now with his standard military crew-cut. After serving his first two tours in Afghanistan he re-enlisted and had spent the last 4 years stationed for peacekeeping in Bosnia. Finally he was back in Toronto, his Dad had passed away only 2 months into Sean's first tour and after the recent death of his mother he returned to Toronto. As it turns out Sean's folks may not have been as careless with their money as he thought they were and Sean had returned to Toronto to follow his dreams and open his own auto shop. Sean is snapped out of his dazed state by an all too familiar voice.

"You know what Jay, I think I might just take you up on that offer. Where's the Tequila?" Emma sighs, she was going to need something stronger than the measly cans of beer resting on the counter.

"That's the spirit! You can't leave now Cameron, even stick in the mud Nelson's joining in." Jay belches, the stale smell of whiskey and cigarette smoke on his breath. But Sean's already out the door, storming down the hallway towards the 4 flights of stairs he had to climb to get out of the building. Just as he's about to take the first step down the twisting staircase he hears a voice.

"Sean! Stop" Emma calls her voice echoing through the long hall, she ran after him, cursing God about how good his ass looked in those jeans. With a puff of breath Sean stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned to face the turbulent blonde.

"What do you want Emma?" Sean grunts, not bothering to look up at her face.

"I want to talk, if you'll just listen to me I-"

"Oh sure, now you want to talk. You're a bit late Em" Sean finishes, pulling up his hood and stumbling down the stairs. Emma stood puzzled near the top of the stairs, watching the young man she once knew as her first love run away. She kept asking herself: What did he mean by "a bit late"?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Just wanted to thank everyone again for reading :) (and possibly favouriting/following/reviewing) (do it) as well as reply to my first review :D

 **Pocksuppet - " I loathe Emma with a passion, but this looks really entertaining and funny (mostly because of Manny). I'm looking forward to seeing other characters too!" -** Thank you so much! This really made my day. I have to agree with you on loathing Emma, she does get on my nerves quite often. I'm thinking of portraying her more in a negative light, meaning she's still going to make a lot of mistakes (but hey it wouldn't be Degrassi without things blown way out of proportion). I'm going to try to make the next chapter more about Janny, I'm trying to make Manny kind of like the likeable character if you know what I mean. :)

 **May 13th, 2019**

Please join us in celebrating the engagement

Of The Future Mrs. and Mr. Gavin Mason

July 4th, 2016, 3-7 PM

the dot

Emma sat back admiring her neat penmanship, after writing out 30 invitations for Manny's dearest and closest friends her hand was aching, at least she convinced Manny to use 100% recycled paper. Emma sat at her desk, after graduating with a degree in Environmental Sciences and 3 years in Business school she was hired by the same company that fired her back in her senior year, Purple Dragon. As Manager of Sales her first initiative was to get rid of those awful purple dresses, followed by starting a new recycling initiative for the cans. Only a year into the job she had already raised sales by 12%. She had it all, the job of her dreams, a beautiful townhome in the suburbs all that was missing was love. But, If she didn't have love did anything else really matter? Well of course it does, the Earth on its axis doesn't revolve around Sean. She seals the final envelope and started to dread the idea of hand delivering 30 letters around the Toronto area. She grabbed a Purple Dragon out of her fridge and hopped into her Hybrid Toyota Prius, this was going to be a long day. Thanks to Manny's need to be married before her thirtieth birthday, the wedding was in only 2 months on August 2nd and Emma being Emma volunteered to do anything that Manny requested. Unfortunately she still had no idea where she could get a Panda to be the ring bearer.

-O-O-O-

The last address on her list just so happened to belong to the one and only Sean Cameron. She parked outside of the old rickety garage on the outskirts of Downtown and then she saw him, standing there in his classic white wife-beater it was almost too cold to be wearing. He was painting the yellow stained walls of the building a vibrant blue, his arms covered with indigo streaks. He turned to face her, rubbing a smudge of paint across his brow.

"Hi" Sean utters, looking her in the eye for the first time since that day 3 weeks ago in Manny and Spinner's apartment.

"Hi, umm this is for you" she says, thrusting the envelope in hand towards the dirty blond haired man now standing in front of her.

"Thanks" he mumbles under his breath, not being able to hold eye contact for more than a few seconds without the memories rushing back.

"What is your deal Sean? It's been almost ten years and you can't even stand to look me in the eye let alone say more than 3 words! Do you know how much I missed you? How I still think about you every night? When you were in the military do you know how much I worried about-"

He cut her off with a kiss, pressing his lips against her's as his hands intertwined in her golden blonde locks pulling her closer towards him. Her hands wrap around his waist as he pulls her lip into his mouth, biting down on it tenderly.

"Sean" she moans against his mouth, pressing her tongue in his mouth. "Please!" Her hands move down steadily and started to shyly hover over his ass. Before she can do anything else he was picking her up and carrying her towards the semi-restored garage, never letting his lips leave her's. Her legs wrap around his waist as he pushes open the half painted wooden door leading to Sean's current bedroom. An old army cot sat against the wall, on top of it sits a ratted old quilt and a seemingly unfluffed pillow, but through their hormone clouded eyes it looks like heaven. Sean places Emma down on the bed before pulling off his paint stained wife-beater, Emma follows suit and pulls of her blouse revealing her $16 Walmart bra. Hey, it's not like she expected this to happen! Sean adds his sweaty cargo pants and Emma's jeans to the pile of already discarded clothing and climbs on top of her. He shifts his focus away from her lips and down to her neck, placing his hands on her breasts he's sucking down her neck attempting to find her rapid heartbeat.

"Jesus Sean! Hurry up and fuck me?" Emma sighs, grinding her hips against Sean's throbbing dick confined by boxers he is starting to regret wearing.

"As you wish princess."

-O-O-O-

 _hey babe, you down for chinese tonight? - Ellie_

Emma almost drops Sean's phone to the floor, she swears she was just checking the time when that bitch of a message popped up. Emma should have known Sean was dating Ellie, boys like Sean are never single. She was so fucked! First by Sean and now by herself. Sure, it may have been the best sex she had in her life, but she was the tramp! The whore she would've cursed if she were on the other side of the equation. Grabbing her things and attempting to stop herself from crying she walked in shame back to her car. Seated in the driver's seat she whips out her phone. Her fingers dash across the keys, pressing send. Seconds later she receives a response that makes a sly grin grow on her face, entering a quick response she then places the phone back in her purse and starts to drive.

 _Hey, what are you doing? Wanna have meaningless sex? -Em_

 _Get your ass over here. - Peter_


	3. Chapter 3

AN : Hi friends :)

So you may have noticed a teensy bit of beef going on in the review section… for which I would like to apologize profusely. I totally didn't mean to make any enemies and the whole reason I started writing fanfic was to discuss my favourite fandoms with people since my irl friends are getting pretty pissed at me for attempting to recap 19 seasons of Degrassi in text messages. I would also like to clarify that I do not "hate" Emma, if I did I wouldn't be writing about her. However, I will say that I am a bigger fan of Ellie, not Sellie, but Ellie. I feel like the way that Sean and Ellie's relationship kind of portrayed Ellie in a negative light and caused a lot of Emma fans to go after her and I just think that people aren't supposed to be perfect and Emma isn't an exception to that. I feel like my writing doesn't portray Emma in a negative light but rather makes her more interesting and adds depth to her character, I'm writing her as who I think she would be after her experiences.

Thanks for all of your support and I love reading your reviews, I'll try to respond the best that I can and I do not mean to offend anybody. if you have a problem or find error in anything I have said please drop a review! If you want me to update also please drop a review cause I really can't tell if the whole TNG Degrassi community that remains on this site hates me or not…

P.S. Is dabbing still cool? Asking for research purposes...

 **SO ENJOY MY LOVELIES :)**

AN ends

 **Chapter 3**

"What the fuck Em?!" Peter huffs. "God!"

"What? What's wrong?" Emma pants, still out of breath from their heavy makeout session. After the whole 'Sellie' ordeal she raced over to Peter's apartment, desperate for a little rush to numb the pain.

"Fuck! You called me Sean! As in Sean Cameron? Sean Motherfucking Cameron?" Peter yells, tossing Emma her discarded blouse. "Get out."

"What?"

"Get the fuck out of my house!" Emma hastily pulls her top over her head and grabbing her purse she storms out the door. Finally making it back to her car, she slams the door behind her and races home.

-O-O-O-

"So really? You and Spin, huh…" Jay slurs, more than a bit inebriated. "When did you stop liking _real men_?"

Manny responds with a huff, "What is your deal Jay? Why can't you just let me go? Spinner makes me way happier than you ever did! And at least he's never been to jail!" Jay had showed up at her door while Spinner was at work, a strong stench of alcohol on his breath despite it being only 11am.

"Hey! That was a one time thing! You don't understand how difficult it is to watch your girl get engaged to your best friend!"

"I'm not your girl anymore Jay! Besides, you seemed pretty damn happy about it last night." Jay steps forward, closing the space between him and Manny. "And that's close enough."

"It's not my fault I'm a damn good actor, it's all part of my ten step plan, baby."

"Ten step plan?"

"To win you back" Jay whispers into her mouth, leaning forward until their lips met.

-O-O-O-

"Hey, pass the wontons" Sean scarfed, mouth still half full. He had agreed to meet Ellie for dinner at _Wok-Star_ , their conversation minimal as they devoured the fried, MSG filled cuisine.

"You have the table manners of a troll, Sean" Ellie replies, passing the almost empty plate of dumplings. "Craig broke up with me" she muttered, looking down at the noodles scattered on her plate.

"Good to know" Sean barks. "Is that why you've come crawling back to me? ' _Babe'?_ " Mockery laden in his tone as he continued eating. Sean and Ellie had been together briefly when he was on leave from the military. They only lasted for three days before Craig returned from his world tour and Ellie practically fell into his arms, dumping Sean through a brief text message.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? Craig makes me do crazy things!" Ellie pleads in reply. "I promise i'll make it up to you! How would you like to be my date to the Manny's engagement party next week? Unless you have other plans with a certain blonde environmentalist?"

"Not after she walked out on me, after begging me to fuck her" Sean scoffs, polishing off the last of the wontons and patting his already bloating gut. "She obviously just wanted me for this smoking hot bod"

"Do you want to get her back?" Ellie inquires.

"Yeah…" Sean meekly replies, not being able to look Ellie in the eye. A hint of a smile grew on Ellie's face.

"I've got a plan"

-O-O-O-

Emma sits at home, drowning her sorrows in a bottle of Tequila (her new drink of choice) and reruns of some sappy teen drama on Netflix. She had just gotten off the phone with Spike who was freaking out after finding her half-brother Jack in bed with three different boys that week alone. He was definitely enjoying his senior year in the basement of her old house much more than she had…

Now left alone with her own thoughts with the high pitched voices of D list teenagers droning on in the background, she started replaying her encounters with Sean. From the moment he walked through the door into Manny and Spinner's apartment, to when she read those eight little words on his phone.

She finally understood what he meant by saying she was "a bit late". He had a girlfriend now, and she had a girl on TV trying to decide who to go to prom with, half a bottle of tequila and an empty carton of ice cream.

Oh god! She's stricken with guilt after she remembers that she had slept with a taken man. Was she still a mistress if she didn't know he was with someone? She finds herself questioning how she could be so stupid for the second time today, and wondering what had happened to the Sean she used to know. The Sean with those piercing blue eyes who was loyal almost to a fault. Who she never would have thought to be cheating on his girlfriend.

Emma felt used, sick to her stomach she took another swig from the now lighter Tequila bottle. Passing out on her couch just minutes later.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** This chapter was slightly reworked as I noticed some little plot holes.

Emma frantically rushed around the dot, leaving a trail of glitter and party favours wherever she went. Still a bit hungover from her two day tequila and Netflix binge, she hurries to set up in time for Manny and Spinner's engagement party. She finishes by hanging a very tasteful game of 'Pin the Veil on The Bride' and stands back to admire the efforts of her 4 AM Pinterest haul.

"OMG! It looks amazing, Em!" Manny calls, the bell at the door ringing behind her. Leave it to Manny to show up 15 minutes before the event starts, snagging a few pieces from Emma's carefully designed fruit platter.

Spinner's not too far behind, and with Spinner comes Jay and Jimmy, but no Sean to be found.

Emma can't help but feel a little disappointed. Even if he was taken he was still nice to look at right?

Right.

-0-0-0-

Sean sits in Ellie's car watching the small analog clock on his dash finally tick to 3:00, then immediately jumps to unbuckle his seatbelt to bolt out of the car.

"Where do you think you're going mister?" Ellie jabs, locking the car doors. Her 'genius' play of pretending to be his girlfriend just to make Emma jealous was starting to not look like such a great idea. "You can't show up right on time, make the girl wait a little"

"What?"

"You have to be fashionably late"

Late

 _Late_

' _Now you want to talk, you're a bit late Em'_

How could he forget the reason why his life was Hell on wheels for so many weeks? How could one amazing night (that was more like a mid-afternoon) make him forget what she did to him?

 _-0-0-0-_

Emma watched the little hand on the clock tick past the little number 6.

Sean Cameron was late. Thirty minutes late.

He was a groomsmen for Heaven's sake! He couldn't just abandon one of his best friends at one of the largest social gatherings of his life, could he?

She starts thinking back to all the times she wrote to Sean when he was away. She had probably sent 5-7 letters before she had given up after never receiving a response.

And now it was too late. He had a girlfriend, a girlfriend that wasn't Emma.

Great.

-0-0-0-

Don't ask Manny Santos what she was doing at her engagement party, in the bathroom of the restaurant her fiancée managed, with someone who was definitely not her fiancée. Because frankly, she doesn't know.

It was just so hard for her to resist those hazel-green eyes and that stupid hat he always wore. Jay was like a magnetic field that just keeps pulling her in.

"Jay, you have to stop" Manny giggles whilst Jay continues sucking a deep purple mark on her neck. She was starting to regret going with a low-cut dress. His hands travel up from her waist and start reaching towards the zipper on her dress, but before he can free her from that very constricting white cocktail dress there's a knock at the door.

"Manny?" Emma calls from outside the thin bathroom door.

Damn Greenpeace, always has to be the cockblock.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really busy and uninspired for the past few weeks. There will probably be 3-4 more chapters after this so make sure you keep checking back.

"Hello? Manny? Are you alright? You've been in there for fifteen minutes."

Manny hastily fixes her hair, noticing the dark purple blemishes adorning her chest. Jay lunges back in, eager to claim what's his, only to be greeted by a hesitant Manny.

"Just ignore her" he whispers in Manny's ear, guiding her back up against the locked bathroom door, his mouth caressing her ear and the surrounding skin.

Manny is fighting against her urges to give in to anything and _everything_ Jay could possibly want. The pounding on the door stops, she guesses Emma has finally given up.

Resuming their previous _activities_ , Jay possessively places his hand on Manny's waist and tasks the other one with finally removing the dress of hers. Manny is mid-moan as he continues to devour her neck when suddenly the door vanishes from behind her. The door she was leaning against had been opened and she and Jay spilled out, collapsing on the floor at the feet of Manny's Fiancé.

They both quickly stumble to their feet, Manny trying to readjust her dress in the process. Before they can utter out some sort of excuse or apology Jay is greeted by a right hook to the face.

"What the hell, dude?" Jay winces, rubbing his eye. Spinner was a strong guy and by the way he was rubbing his knuckles one would know that was a powerful blow.

"You were making out with my Fiancée, at my restaurant, at our engagement party!" Spinner growls, throwing another punch, this time hitting Jay square in the jaw. "How dare you!"

"Stop!" Manny takes a step toward the two. "Spin, please I-"

"And you!" Spinner turns towards Manny, leaving Jay cowering and tending to his injuries. "How could you do this? I thought you loved me!"

"Yeah and I thought that I would actually graduate high school but look at us now" Jay scowls, still holding his jaw.

Manny takes another step to approach him. "Jay, please don't-"

"No! You don't get to defend him, you realize how stupid this is right? Considering everything he's done to torment people" Spinner yells, starting to pace a little in an attempt to calm down. It wasn't working.

"Please Spin, we all know that the whole Rick fiasco was your fault as well." Manny counters, finding herself standing between Spinner and Jay both figuratively and literally.

"Yeah, it was and that was a stupid move that taught me a serious lesson about meddling. A lesson that Jay clearly hasn't learnt yet." Jay's eyes dart to the ground. Emma makes her way to Manny's side, placing a hand on her shoulder and using the other one to wipe one of the faint tears rolling down her cheek.

"Don't listen to him Man, he doesn't know what he's saying"

Spinner starts to laugh and a wicked grin grows on his face. "Really Em, I don't know what I'm saying? Why do you think you never heard from Sean after he left? Why he never bothered to call when he moved back to Toronto?"

Emma spun around to face Jay, whose eyes were fixed to the floor. There was nothing more terrifying than the glare she started shooting at him.

"What the hell is he talking about, Jay?"

"It must have been hard watching all the life drain out of your best friend's face when you handed him the letter you- I mean _Emma_ wrote saying she had moved on. The sick smile stayed plastered on Spinner's face, boldly taking a step towards Jay. "How he couldn't leave the house for days after _she_ said she never wanted to see him again." The once bubbling restaurant was now flooded with silence. "Do you remember the look on Emma's face every time you told her that no letters had arrived, the letters that you stowed away in that orange piece of trash you call a car? I've kept your secret long enough,I didn't tell anyone because I thought we were friends but friends don't fuck their friend's fiancee like the two-bit whore that she is. So-"

This time it was Manny who threw the first punch, everyone's eyes so fixed on the unfolding scene they didn't notice a certain blonde slip through the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **AN: Hello! So nice to see you all again! Well not really see but you get the point. Anyways I know this story has kind of gone off the rails a bit and I'm making it up as I go along (don't be like me, make an outline) so it might seem a bit loopy sometimes. As always I do not have a beta so any mistakes are my own and I don't own Degrassi in any way, shape or form (if I did we would have Next Class season 5 already). Thanks for reading and don't be afraid to drop a review, I absolutely adore hearing from you guys! Also, please let me know if this makes sense! Thanks :)**

Jay was never one to back away from a fight, but even he knew this was one battle Manny had to fight for herself. Evidently faring quite well by the way Spinner was holding his jaw in agony.

"Yes, I know I made a mistake, Spin. What I did was terrible and I don't expect you to forgive me" Manny exhales, rubbing her reddening knuckles. "But that doesn't give you the right to act like you're entirely innocent in all of this. We both know how your face lights up whenever you get a text from Jane." Spinner removes his hand from his jaw and with a sharp inhale of breath fashions the hand into an accusatory point.

"That's not-"

"We both know it is." Manny cuts him off. "We both knew that this marriage wouldn't work. I agreed to marry you because you're such a great guy and I knew that you would be a great husband too, but I was in love with Jay even though I know he's bad for me." That statement seems to pull Jay out of the trancelike state of watching, his eyebrow quirking up with confusion.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jay demands. "What do you mean _was_ in love with?"

"I meant that I'm no longer in love with you!" retorts Manny, her hair whipping around as she quickly turns to face Jay. "Maybe I never was! But I can't love you when you would do something like that to my best friend! That was a real dick move, Jay. What could have even made you try to drive a wedge between Sean and Emma?!" Images start flashing through Jay's mind, his eyes glazing over as he lets himself remember what he did, all the things he wish he could forget.

-O-O-O-

 _Jay was speeding down the freeway in his iconic orange car, racing through the pelting rain, his headlights shining off the stale puddles on the night-darkened road. Struggling to keep his eyes on the road between his looming exhaustion and the glove box calling his attention to his right. He never meant to keep the letters, but once he started he couldn't stop. It seemed like a good idea at the time, Sean sending all his monthly letters in one envelope to Jay to save money that is. Jay started holding back Sean's letters to Emma and Emma's letters to Sean, as the months went on his piles grew thicker and thicker._

" _You're such an idiot" he murmurs to himself, but it's too late now. Far too many months have passed for him to explain why Sean never got any letters from Emma or why Emma never got any from Sean. He hoped it would get easier when Emma started to give up on sending letters she never got a reply from, but she never did. Every time Emma knocked at his door he watched her face sink when he told her there was no new letter or whenever he read one of Sean's letters he could hear the disappointment in the boy's words. It breaks his heart to tear them apart, to betray their trust, but he knows it's for their own good._

 _Casualties happen everyday and he thought that keeping a few letters from Emma would help her cope if they ever received the one they dreaded. If Sean were to die Emma would be crushed and Jay's done more than enough to hurt Emma throughout their lives. Breaking off all contact was the only solution, he figured that Emma would eventually forget about Sean and vice versa. Without Emma on his mind Sean would be focused on what was important: staying alive and coming home. Once he came back everything would have worked itself out, Sean would show up one morning on Emma's doorstep and she would embrace him with open arms. But Sean was mad, he holed himself up in his parents' old house in Wasaga and refused to talk to anyone. Sean needed closure and Jay, unwilling to confess his mistakes, wrote that letter. The letter that was sitting on the passenger seat when Jay eventually pulled into Sean's driveway, the letter that, of all the wrong things he had ever done, haunted him most._

 _Clutching the letter in his left hand he knocked on Sean's door with his right. He was greeted by a man he barely recognized, a man who was a shell of his former self. There was no light behind his eyes, covered in dark circles from several sleepless nights._

" _What" Sean said. When Sean opened his mouth Jay could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath, so strong it stinged his eyes. He could have sworn he saw Sean peer behind him at his bright orange car like he was looking for something in it, or someone, and watched him deflate when he found nothing._

" _Can I come in?"_


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello! It's me again! One more chapter after this, perhaps an epilogue if you guys want. I'll leave that up to you in the reviews :) Anyways, hope you like this chapter and as always thanks for reading!**

Emma can't remember exactly what went through her mind the minute she heard Spinner's confession. She recalls dropping her jaw at the shocking revelation, but she's not quite sure what happened after. Currently sitting behind the steering wheel of her car, she couldn't tell you how she got there, or where she's going. Nevermind the fact that she had broken several laws of the road. Her brain, seemingly on autopilot, deep down she knew what she had to do. When she reached her destination, she automatically turned off the car, pulled open the handle and stepped out onto the pavement. The once worn down autoshop was now vibrantly covered with a bright blue hue. The very same blue that streaked Sean's forehead on that fateful day when she let herself be consumed by her desire for Sean. A neon sign hung above one of the garages read 'Cameron's Custom Cars', below it sat a much smaller one. Black paint on a scrap piece of wood read 'Residence at Back'.

Navigating her way around the deserted lot, Emma made it to a small black door on the other side of the building. The entryway was adorned with a basic welcome mat and a potted plant that, upon further inspection, turned out to be plastic. She took a step towards the door, her heart racing and palms sweating.

This is it. This is the moment she was waiting for. It was time to confront the love of her life, a moment she had waiting for forever. But when she raised her hand to knock on the door, she just couldn't do it. What if Spinner was lying? What if Ellie answered the door? Dear God, she had completely forgotten about Ellie! How could she forget that Sean had a girlfriend! Besides, even if he didn't have a girlfriend why would he still care about some missing letter from years ago. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, they've both changed a lot since the times they spent at Degrassi. Sean had moved on, he finally seemed happy. He achieved his dream of owning his own garage, had a girlfriend and somehow got over Emma. Fuck, Sean was right, she really was "too late".

She felt her eyes start to water as she realized not everything works out like in a movie. The world didn't revolve around her, not everything was going to magically fix itself for a happy ending. There was no way she could possibly face him now, she couldn't just waltz in and expect him to drop everything so they could pretend like they were back in High School. Turning back towards her car, she feels the first tear roll down her cheek. When she makes her way back to the entrance of the newly renovated garage, she's greeted by an unknown vehicle. Upon further inspection, she noticed its inhabitants: The boy she's been in love with since the seventh grade and his beautiful girlfriend. Suddenly unable to control the couple tears running down her face from evolving into complete waterworks, her slow pace quickly escalated to a sprint towards her car. If she thought facing him alone would be hard, there was no way she could face him in front of Ellie. They were a reminder of the mistakes she wasn't aware she made.

-O-O-O-

 _Emma had spent the past year sending letters that were never reciprocated. After nearly breaking into tears anytime she would pour her heart into every letter she wrote, only to have Jay shake his head whenever she would hopingly look up to him. She couldn't put herself through that anymore. Maybe it was time to move on, Sean obviously had. It wasn't the first time he forgot about her when something better came along, you think she would learn something after her tumultuous relationship history._

 _She stopped writing letters, but Jay kept coming to her apartment once a month to share the news, or lack thereof, of any mail. After another few months, she couldn't stand to see the look of guilt on his face whenever he said there were no new letters. She always wondered why he looked so guilty about not having a letter, despite it not being his fault. Realizing the intense hurt that even looking at his best friend gave her, she wondered how she could ever confront Sean. Before she knew it, she was telling Jay not to come by anymore. Told him that she doesn't care anymore and that when Sean gets back, she doesn't want to hear about it. A clean break is the only option, she couldn't be constantly looking forward to something that wasn't going to happen or being reminded every month that her feelings for Sean were anything but mutual. As she slammed the door in Jay's face, telling him to cancel his monthly visits, she burst into tears. Her back against the, now shut, door, she sunk to the ground as she sobbed. That was the day she promised herself that she would never cry over Sean Cameron again._

-O-O-O-

She had given up on Sean and just assumed that he didn't want her anymore. She should have had more faith in him, or suspect something other than him not wanting to talk to her. But she was young, she let her emotions take control of her and now it was too late. Nearing her car, she wiped some of the tears she swore she wouldn't let control her. Her running becoming gradually more frantic, blocking out the world around her. She just needed to make it to the car and get as far away from the boy she abandoned nearly ten years ago.

Suddenly, there was a hand tugging on her wrist, pulling her back towards the memories and feelings she tried so hard to escape. Whipping her head around, she's greeted by the same blue eyes and deep voice she could never forget.

"Wait!"


	8. Chapter 8

**I feel like it's been forever since I've even thought about this story. Honestly, the only reason I've come back to it was that I received a review from atomiccounty11 and it reminded me that I couldn't leave their story unfinished. This is the last chapter, but there will be an epilogue.**

It's been over a decade since her very first date with Sean. Yet that same nervous feeling she had that night was all too familiar to Emma.

They stood facing each other in the driveway of Sean's Garage, his hand around her wrist. He couldn't help but notice how easily his fingers wrapped around her thin wrist. It filled something inside him with worry.

"I was just leaving," Emma says. But she makes no effort to escape Sean's grasp, finding herself enjoy his touch more than she would care to admit.

Ellie, with her always _impeccable_ timing got out of the car. She was leaning against the back of the trunk, watching the scene play out before her.

"Will you two just kiss and make up already?" Ellie yells from her spot. "If I have to spend another car ride with that idiot looking like a kicked puppy, I'm actually going to pull my hair out."

When they were sitting in the dot's parking lot, Sean just couldn't bring himself to go inside. There was something inside him that was telling him that if he saw Emma he wouldn't be able to control himself. His life hadn't been easy and he'd been through enough to know that anything with Emma would end up with one of them hurting. Without speaking he had driven back to his garage, ignoring Ellie's protests.

"Ellie, would you just fuck off!" Sean's emotions are a complete mess. He has no idea what to feel and in this exact moment, all he can think is Ellie needs to leave. When he manages to calm himself down a little, he realizes that a certain blonde has pulled out of grip. He notices her rubbing the slight red marks forming on her wrist. "Shit, I'm sorry Em I-"

"It's fine, I was just leaving anyway." Emma still makes no attempt to leave, her gaze locked onto his pale blue eyes. Another tear starts to drip down her cheek and Sean has to restrain himself from wiping it away.

"Why'd you come back, Em?"

She could barely stop herself from becoming a bawling mess; more tears started to fall and she made no effort to hold them back. "I'm so sorry, Sean," she choked out. "I know it's probably too late but when I found out what happened I couldn't stop myself. When your letters stopped I didn't know what to do with myself and now I've realized that you probably went through the exact same thing and I-"

Her babbling was cut off by him pulling her into his arms. She let herself collapse against his sturdy frame, burrowing her head in his neck. His hand reached up her back, making its way to rest against her smooth Honey-Vanilla hair.

"Shhh," he sighed. His own tears were now falling onto her shoulder. "Just breathe, Em. Everything's going to be okay; We're going to be okay"

He had no idea what she was going on about, but when he saw the girl he loves baring her emotions to him in his driveway, something told him they would be alright. Even after everything they've been through, those same feelings came rushing back.

That had always been the problem with their relationship, one of them was always getting in the way of their happiness. Whether it be pride or lack of communication, there was always something that stopped them being together. Maybe that's why he had been so hesitant to open himself up to her when anything that could go wrong would.

But the woman in his arms wasn't something he could give up on so easily. And when he saw her put herself out there and _try,_ he had to as well.

The Old 'Sean and Emma' always found a reason to break each other. It could've have been because they just weren't ready or it wasn't the right time but it always seemed like fate decided they weren't good together.

The old Sean would've avoided Emma like the plague after that first confrontation in Manny's apartment. He probably would've ditched Toronto all together; abandoning his shop and any possible connection with Emma. Running away from his problems was always a strong suit of his.

When Sean left, the old Emma would've convinced herself that she didn't need him. She would refuse to admit anything was wrong and plaster on a smile. Tell herself to be strong and never dare to contact him out of fear all of her feelings would come spilling out.

Sean didn't need to hear whatever reason Emma was giving for the whole letter ordeal to know that he forgave her. He knew that the old 'Sean and Emma' wouldn't work, but something told him that this Emma isn't the same girl he used to know.

She wasn't the old Emma and he wasn't the old Sean.

And something told him that was enough.

The old 'Sean and Emma' never worked, but maybe the new 'Sean and Emma' would.

 **THE END :)**

 **AN: Please don't hate me for leaving it this open-ended, but it's where I felt the story should go. If you hate it, feel free to let me know in the reviews, BUT there is an epilogue so it's not too much of a cliff-hanger. Also I LOVE reviews, both positive and negative. They make me feel social and less of a hermit writing fanfic in my room.**

 **3 Thanks so much for reading and I hope we meet again soon! 3**


	9. Epilogue

Emma grew up thinking her wedding would be the most magical night of her life. So far, she was right.

Three years after that fateful day in Sean's driveway, he had proposed in the very same spot. Even though Emma had long since convinced him to move out of the ratty apartment in the back of the shop, after that moment they made a rare visit back to the place where they had their first real reunion.

Six months later, Spike walked Emma down the aisle to her childhood sweetheart. They both shed more tears than they'd like to admit when Snake gave an emotional speech before they said their vows, which then induced even more tears.

Hours after the ceremony, Emma couldn't wipe the image of Sean's smile when Snake had said "you may now kiss the bride" off her mind. It made her grin to herself as she cleaned up the banquet hall after most of the guests had left. Among the few that remained were her Mom and Manny. Everything was pretty much done, so Sean went to get the car to load all of the gifts they received.

"Hey, Em," Manny called. "Everything is pretty much "

"Thank you so much for everything!" Emma pulled her Maid of Honour into a tight hug. "How are you holding up, Sweetie?"

After Jay's secret was exposed, he left Toronto and no one has heard from him since. Manny hasn't been in a relationship since Spinner broke up with her. Despite playing the role of the supportive best friend perfectly, Emma could see the pain in her eyes as she watched the ceremony. The regret that festered within her as she pictured herself and Jay in front of that altar instead of her two friends.

"I'll be fine," she sighed. "I'm strong."

"Sometimes, it's okay not to be." Emma released her from the embrace and looked her in the eye. "Remember I'm always going to be there for you, okay?"

Their moment was interrupted by the arrival of Sean. The two girls shared another hug before saying their goodbyes and Manny went home for some much-needed sleep. After she left, Sean pulled his new wife into a heated kiss.

"Let's grab these gifts and get out of here," he growls. "I believe we have a honeymoon to enjoy."

It takes a few trips to bring all of the gifts to their car, but when the pile has shrunk they notice a crumpled pile of paper tied together with a few pieces of string. Hidden in the back, they were covered with Sean's messy handwriting and Emma's neat printing. But perhaps the most noticeable detail, was the tag, with only two words scribbled on it, hastily tied to the string.

 _I'm sorry_


End file.
